Microsoft Shifts Four Features to Teams Premium Suite

by HubSite 365 about Tony Redmond [MVP]

Principal at Redmond & Associates

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Discover how Microsoft is enhancing your Teams experience with Premium features, enriching meetings & security standards.

In October 2022, Microsoft unveiled an add-on license dubbed the Teams Premium, estimated to cost $10 per user monthly. They hope their offering of advanced meeting and security features, which would otherwise require a suite of add-ins from various software vendors, will make this licencing option particularly attractive, more so for enterprise clients.

However, some confusion persists as Microsoft continues to offer the Teams Advanced Communications license, hinting at a potential discontinuation when this premium option is officially launched in February 2023. This, however, remains speculation.

Features Shifting to the Teams Premium

In January 2023, clarity was provided concerning certain features initially covered by the standard license now moving to the premium category. Microsoft plans to give users a grace period to adapt prior to the transition fully taking place. After this period, users with standard licenses will not have access to these premium features.

The features making this shift include: live translation of captions during team meetings, custom together mode scenes, timeline markers in recorded meetings, and virtual appointments.

Live translation of captions during meetings: This helps users to have captions generated for meetings in their preferred language. The grace period for this feature is 60 days.
Custom together mode scenes: This dictates the backdrop upon which meeting participants appear. Standard users choose from a set of scenes created by Microsoft while individuals with the premium licenses can customize their scenes using the Teams scene studio. The grace period for this feature is 30 days.
Timeline markers in the meetings' recordings: This highlights when participants join and leave a meeting. The grace period for this feature is 30 days.
Virtual appointments: This mirrors the Bookings app for Outlook and allows users to schedule and manage structured appointments using online team meetings. The app comes with SMS notifications, analytics in the Teams admin center, and the ability to view queued appointments.

The future of live translation of captions, given its potent assistance to users, seems particularly sensitive. The question regarding its elevated premium status in light of this is currently an open one.

Further clarification concerning licensing requirements, particularly from per-user and task-specific standpoints, is yet to be released.

The Need for a Premium Option

The creation of a premium licensing option for specific features seems justified. Certain organizations require unique functionalities like watermarking meeting sessions, using meeting templates, and employing sensitivity labels to protect content. These features come at an engineering cost, paid for by the premium licenses.

The move to premium status for certain features originally under the standard license has sparked debate. This shift, viewed by some as a tactic to maximize revenue from users of Microsoft 365, calls for further scrutiny.

Read the full article Microsoft Moves Four Standard Features to Teams Premium

Teams Premium - Microsoft Shifts Four Features to Teams Premium Suite

Learn about Microsoft Moves Four Standard Features to Teams Premium

Microsoft has jazzed up its offerings with a premium package for Teams. Dubbed Teams Premium, it is touted as a premium ride for its users with advanced features and seamless integration to Teams Standard (source). The introduction of this add-on license is directed towards enterprise level clients and aims to club a medley of features under one package. This makes Microsoft's premium offering a one-stop-shop replacing multiple software vendors for integration with standard Teams functionality.

While Microsoft still maintains its Teams Advanced Communications license, it might be facing the curtain call when Teams Premium hits the mainstream in February of 2023(source), understanding the fluidity of the tech sphere, this is an educated prediction and should be digested with a dash of skepticism.

In January 2023, Microsoft dropped a revised 365 notification (MC445406) to add some much-needed clarity. It confirmed some features from the standard license will hit the transit and will make the shift to Teams Premium. The features that would be shifting gears include Live translation of captions during Teams meetings, Custom together mode scenes, Timeline markers in the meeting recordings, and Virtual appointments. Microsoft, with the goodwill of its customers in mind, will provide grace periods for each feature to allow subscribers with standard licenses to adapt to the functionality avulsion.

The live translation of captions gives users the ability to see captions for voice communications during meetings in their preferred language. This feature is allotted a grace period of 60 days.
Custom together mode scenes allows users the freedom to Choose from a set of backdrops or scenes created by Microsoft, or create custom scenes using the Teams scene studio for a more personalized setting during meetings. This feature is allotted a grace period of 30 days. (source)
The timeline markers in meeting recordings indicate when participants join and leave a meeting. This feature will remain accessible to users with standard licenses only for 30 days.
Virtual appointments are a smart integration that works as a Bookings app for Outlook and allows users to schedule structured appointments using online meetings. This feature is also allowed a grace period of 30 days(source).

The final decision to upgrade to the Premium version is dependent on the requirements and the willingness to shell out for the elevated features. Besides, there is also a case of uncertainty about licensing requirements for each of the Premium features. As of now, for some features, it seems like per-user licensing is necessary, as when individual users want to choose separate languages for live captions.

While it’s a smart move to bundle unique features under Premium licensing, the transit of features from the standard license to premium status might stir a debate. But the push for generating revenue is the side effect of the growing demand and innovative additions introduced in the tech world. That said, one can appreciate the ongoing efforts by Microsoft to keep users updated with developments across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem through subscriptions such as the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook.",

Keywords

Microsoft Teams Premium, Standard Features, Microsoft Moves, Teams Upgrade, Business Communication, Premium Features, Collaboration Software, Office 365, Teams Subscription, Enhanced Teams Features.